The Grass Is Always Greener
by ChocoboHead
Summary: Teenage Aerith and her friends have all attended an all-girls school for almost two years. Of course, that isn't going to stop the Shinra boys from sneeking a social life through the fence. Especially, their leader, IT. Or, shall we just call him Zack?
1. Chapter 1

High school. It's usually the same for every girl. You have your studies, friends, and of course…_boys_.

My life isn't _exactly_ like that. You see I go to an all girls' school. You know, that really isn't so bad…my friends are nice…I have no distractions…my uniform is really cute…and…um…

Okay, okay, it _sucks_.

My name's Aerith. I am fifteen years old. I have been going to an all girls' school since I was thirteen…so that is about…two and a half years. Also, I have never kissed a guy or held hands—most girls here haven't yet—I am extremely jealous of those who have…

My routine is pretty boring…get up, go to school, come home, go to bed, get up again…

Well, it's not exactly that boring, but you get the idea, right?

My favorite part of my school is that not only do we have a pool we have a track field. I absolutely love to run and I am the fastest runner in the whole entire school. (Meaning: most people in the school run as slow as heck.) Nobody I know of can beat me at a race…if there is I have yet to meet her.

Of course, the track field is the place where this whole mess began. By '_this mess',_ I mean Tifa—my "best friend"—attracting people to watch our afternoon gym class…and by "_people_", I mean…_THEM_.

I was never fond of _THEIR_ group…I met _THEM_ and at one unfortunate spring break party. Sadly, because Tifa is the leader's best friend's girlfriend…I am constantly in knowledge that we are _all_ being watched.

_THEIR_ leader is very vexing. This leader seems to watch every girl through the fence with extreme curiosity. I think _he must_ be perverted. I call this perverted leader, IT. IT is the reason why I dearly love going to an all girls' school…because IT goes to public school…even though he is clearly skipping right now to watch the girls' gym class…

"Aerith! Aerith! C'mon! We need to time your run!"

I turned from the group of boys clinging to the fence to go stand at the starting line. I only had to rush a few feet, touch the ground, and come back. No big deal, but I hated that. I have issues stopping because once I get going I just _cannot_ stop.

Tifa stood next to me, stretching her arms behind her head—making her boobs look even bigger (how does she do that?!)

"I wanna try to beat you at that run," she giggled. "What's your time now?"

"Uhm…" I breathed, copying Tifa's stretch, "fourteen-ten."

Her eyes widened. "Fourteen seconds! You're so fast!"

I am not fast…everyone is just _slow_.

I bent my leg backwards and stretched it over my hip. I heard one guy behind me whistle.

"Flexi-girl!"

What pigs. They're all a bunch of pigs.

I looked over to Tifa to see what her reaction was to those dummies and she was looking right back at her blonde-haired, blue-eyed, stupid second-in-command, boyfriend, Cloud Strife. He grinned at her and waved. She waved back.

IT nudged Cloud with his elbow and Mr. "Second-In-Command" turned the deepest shade of red that had ever existed.

I turned away from the scene. "Time me, okay?"

As soon as I said that, I was off down towards the second line on the track that was drawn lightly in the grey dirt. I skidded to a halt, touching the dust, and then I quickly turned around and dashed back down past Tifa holding the tiny black timer. I listened to the beep coming from it and I told my feet to stop. Of course, they didn't listen so I just threw myself against the fence.

_Of course…_

I spent two seconds staring at IT. Did you know it only takes half a second to make an impression on someone? My first reason for pausing was that I was out of breath from running. I was immobile.

My second reason was…well…I think there is a reason for IT being the leader. He was gorgeous…bright violet eyes, shoulder-length jet-black hair, and despite the color of his hair and eyes, he was _so_ pale. There must be another reason he the leader though…he's not running all on just his looks. He must have something else going for him.

Brains? Ha, that couldn't be it… he looked dumber than a box of rocks. Strength? No, he was too willowy. What else is there beyond brains and brawn that anyone looks for?

I snapped out of the moment—longest two seconds of my life, I might mention. Turning around, I asked, "Ti, what was my time?"

"Thirteen fifty-seven!"

I sighed, bending over and resting my hands on my knees. I was a bit faster…but not fast enough to knock off the whole second…if I took off that second I would have beaten a record.

Walking back over to the side of the track, I timed Tifa's run. As she passed me, I yelled out her time:

"Nineteen twenty-two!"

She skidded on her heels to a halt. A tiny frown crossed her face. "I'm still not fast enough…"

I laughed, shaking my head, "we'll race again! I know there's somebody who will beat me, and that's you. You're the second fastest!"

She suddenly grew instantly bored of me and walked over to the chain-link fence. Of course, Cloud was right there waiting on her.

I thought about listening to what they were saying to each other…but of course, that was rude. Also, most likely it was the same thing as always: Tifa would reach her small hand through the fence. Cloud would avoid her at first then… they'd start up a pointless conversation, with the _nicknames_ and the _talking in circles..._

Groaning, I decided to walk the track alone…_again_.

Somewhere into my second lap around, I heard something.

"Yo."

I ignored it.

"Yo!"

He said it again. I tried very hard to ignore this boy for a whole year. I don't even know his name. He's IT: the biggest jerk in town.

"Fast girl! Yo, turn your head!"

I sighed. He is just so…_loud_. I was hoping to get a chance to think today.

"Uh…Miss?"

That made me stop. I turned my head to look at the boy on the other end of the fence. He grinned.

"I just figured you out," he told me with a smirk.

"What?"

Laughing, he bounced himself of the fence. "It's nothing…I just learned something about you."

I looked at him, "Well, what did you learn?"

There was a short pause as he ran his hand through his hair, "Hm. Well…What's your name?"

That didn't answer my question. I stayed quiet.

"The name's Zack; and you are…?"

Why was he giving me so much attention lately? I see him almost every week…Why now is he talking to me _now_?

I swallowed, "Aerith. My name is Aerith."

He was fell quiet. Chuckling he said, "Latin, right? I should've known…"

I threw him a funny look. He grinned, "A dead language. Nobody speaks it anymore. My guess is you're unique and old fashioned because of that name."

"Hey!" I yelped, ready to defend myself, "I'm not old-fashioned!"

"Oh really, Miss Aerith?"

I felt my face get hot. "Where are you going with this?"

"You think you're pretty fast right? I _think _I know someone who can beat you."

"Who would that be?"

He smiled and looked up at the sky, "you get out around three thirty, right? Meet me outside and I'll walk you home. We might meet this person on our way."

I started walking again and he followed beside me behind the fence. "What, no goodbye?"

"Goodbye."

He stopped, "you _are_ coming, right?"

I looked at him again. This time I considered going. "Ask me like you mean it and I'll consider."

Slight surprise crossed his face. When I said earlier about how it only takes a half second to make an impression; I think his impression of me is constantly changing. I smiled at him and the look of surprise turned apparent.

"Huh?"

He just asked me right out of the blue. This'd be my first time walking home with a guy and I wanted it to be totally special.

"Ask me like you mean it," I said back in a singsong voice.

He paused for a second, "You know…you aren't like the other girls I met." He sighed and twined his fingers around the chain-links. "So, Aerith…Do you want me to walk you home today?"

I could feel my face turning bright red. Why do I always have to get brave then get quiet? Why do I have to attend an all-girls school? I need more practice with this!

Gently, I nodded. "Y-yes…" I found myself mumbling.

He smirked. "Okay then."

I don't think my mood swings are beginning to confuse this guy…he's very adaptable.

* * *

**_Chapter 1 is up guys! Haha! I really hope that this story is popular because I think it's going to turn out so sweet. It is my usual Zerith teens again...high-school kids. (yay! Teenage Zack) So...I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of the main characters or else I'd own them. In the next chapter we are going to learn about Zack's social life and the trouble his roomates get into. (gasp! Call the police, Midgar is going to burn down!)_**


	2. Chapter 2

That afternoon, Zack was waiting right outside my classroom window. Just sitting there…waiting in front of the fence. He brought friends—oh fantastic. His group; THEM.

The bell chimed. Everyone got up and started to make their way out of the classroom. I sat there, dumbfounded. I didn't want to go outside and face Zack, I didn't! I would surely embarrass myself all over again!

I looked at Mr. Dalca, taking today's notes off the dry-erase board.

"Something the matter, Ms. Gainsborough?" He asked.

Mr. Dalca was so nice to me. Everyone else says that he's a scary man, but he's not. Who cares if he used to be a Turk? Who cares if he used to be (or so they say) the _Legendary_ Turk? He's a nice man.

"Um…sir, I'm avoiding someone," I said bluntly, "is there a back way out of the school?"

He nodded; a sly smile crossed his face. I watched him cross the room, the sound of the sole of his shiny leather shoes echoed off the walls. "There is," He chuckled, leaning down and watching me. "But I'm not telling you were it is. Fair has been out there _all _damn afternoon. You aren't standing him up." He threw a hand towards the window. "So get a move-on."

He shoved me—almost out the window—causing my presence to be know to the boy below. I turned and took the door out.

I turned around to face the ex-Turk. "Sir, I'm guessing you know him?"

"Yes. Now go."

"How do you know him?"

He pulled a knife out of his pocket; I backed away. "Okay, okay…jeez…I only wanted to know!" I hissed.

He laughed, and walked back to the dry-erase board, picking something out of the front of it with his knife. "I've just seen him around," He chuckled, "Watch out around him, all right?"

He's still a cool guy. Maybe…maybe just a little scary.

* * *

I took my time going outside. I even stalled, watching the four boys outside try to see who could walk on their hands the longest—but mostly, it was just THEM showing off in front of a girl's school.

Each boy had a distinct detail—and until now, I noticed that they were all dressed alike, but they each wore it to their own style.

Cloud was the only one that appeared to be wearing everything correctly. He wore a white button-down shirt and a pair of work pants all straight without any wrinkles at all. He just attempted to stand on his hands and failed completely. He was just laying there on the grass now.

A redhead, Reno—a bigger flirt than anyone in the whole group—had managed to catch a leaf aflame with a lighter from his pocket. He was very amused at this and that created the illusion he was the stupidest in the group as well—maybe he really is. His shirt was half-tucked into his pants and the buttons in his shirt were actually missing.

The third was very tall. Sephiroth. He scared me the most. He landed a perfect back flip for a few passing girls and they ran off squealing while he stood there as if nothing happened. He was the one not obeying the dress code at all for that group. He wore the same stuff that the others wore but it was all black—like his _heart_!

Zack decided to try again at walking on his hands and ended up flipping onto his back when he saw me. Surprisingly, he didn't act as if I was spying on anyone. He had his tattered sleeves rolled up to around his elbows and his shirt wasn't tucked in at all.

Reno caught fire. "Dammit!"

"So…you ready to go?" Zack asked, a smug smile crossing his face.

"What about…?"

"The fire will go out in a second…this has happened before."

"Oh…" I mumbled.

A dark shadow loomed over me. I felt…colder. "Are we going to race?" A voice asked.

My head snapped back. It was Sephiroth! Do I have to race him? Surely, I would pass out before…

"You bet!" Zack pitched in. "Aer, c'mon!"

"W-w-w-what?!" I sputtered. I couldn't! I mean…I could race Sephiroth…but I would be slaughtered a few minutes later!

"You versus all four of us, Aerith! This is our race," Zack laughed, "If you win, I'll leave. If one of us wins, we get to stick around until the day you win, deal?"

I quietly agreed with a nod. I felt like I didn't have a choice anymore—this was the only way to make them leave.

Cloud walked up behind me, a kind smile spread across his face, "you can pick where we race."

Oh! No wonder Tifa liked that boy so much…he had such a cute face, and a sweet voice, and he…he even was a bit shy around people—that gave him an adorable little quirk. Why can't I meet a guy like that? The only one that's giving me the least amount of attention is…

"Zack, Aerith, get a move on!" Reno waved to us so we could catch up with the rest of the group.

…that dummy, IT.

I ran up to the rest of "THEM." "W-we can race on the soccer field!" I stuttered. "They don't close the gate on it until twenty minutes after school ends so the students can go home. We have some time until then…"

"Perfect!" Zack agreed, "let's go!"

* * *

Zack had drawn a line in the dirt and everyone lined up on it. I stood between Reno and Cloud so I couldn't see Zack or Sephiroth. Oh, this would be an interesting race! I knew I'd win against these guys…Sephiroth might be a close finish but the other three…

"READY, GET SET, GO!!"

My brain wasn't sure what to do! I knew those words were my cue ever since I knew how to run. Why was I messing up now?

I took off. I was flying. Pushing myself to catch up to anyone ahead of me, I dashed forward…

I looked back…WHAT?

Three of them were still waiting at the starting line. Weren't they going to run? Oh…then this means…

I'm only racing him, aren't I?

I raced forward. I was not going to lose to _him. _I was not going to lose to IT.

I almost reached out and grabbed the few black strands of hair that I was neck-and-neck with—I couldn't do that! That was unfair!

I felt like I was going to lose! I couldn't lose! Not to Zack!

He ran forward, I pushed myself harder…Oh!

He took a little hop forward and he halted. _Oh_!

I skidded to a stop. I'd lost? To THAT?

He leaned down, putting his hands on his knees; his hair flopped down into his face. "Ugh…I thought this was the first time I was going to lose…"

So he _was_ trying!

"What? You actually were pushing yourself?" I asked.

"Duh! You put up quite a fight…but I won," he wrapped an arm around me, quickly snapping up, "So, as promised, I'm not going away until we race again. Until then…where do you live?"

He waved to his friends who had all decided to take the front way out of the field. Cloud had managed to find Tifa and she began to already throw herself on the poor boy. I watched as he gently put an arm around her. How _cute_.

I answered Zack quickly, "Sector 7."

He blinked. I knew what he was thinking…only poor people lived under the plate in Sector 7. That's right. I lived under the plate, went to school here, and went back home every afternoon by train.

"So…I take it…you're not a huge fan of Shin-ra?" He asked casually.

Not many people ask that as casually as he did. They either ask it in prejudice or with admiration…never as bluntly as he did. Nobody below the plate liked Shin-ra or anything having to do with their company…so obviously…

"Actually, I don't pay much attention to Shin-ra. I try to keep away, and hope they leave me alone in return. I don't wanna get attacked by one of their SOLDIERs—the monsters."

Zack stepped back. "I-I see…so…you don't like SOLDIER."

He seemed to say it as if it wasn't a question…more like a statement or something he needed to hear. He sounded…upset.

I attempted to make the truth sound as innocent as possible. "I'm afraid of SOLDIER. I don't want anyone getting hurt."

He started to walk with me. "SOLDIER wouldn't do that!" He defended, "Shin-ra wants only peace and better lives for the people of the Planet!"

I sighed, "Or…just Midgar."

"What?"

"N-nothing!"

There was a long and incredibly sad pause in conversation from that point on. We had walked through LOVELESS Avenue, through Sector 8, and all the way to the train station in silence. I tried to pick up the conversation.

"So, Zack, where do you live?"

He cleared his throat, surprised to be speaking again, "Just off Sector 8."

Oh…he must live above one of the shops then.

"What about your family?" I asked.

"I live alone…well, I have roommates…Cloud, and Sephiroth…but my family is far away…" He shrugged, "I'm pulling my own weight."

How strange—to be all the way in Midgar without any family.

"Oh…so where are you from?"

He gave me a look. Maybe he was wondering why I was throwing so many questions at him. Oh no! Was I doing it again? I mustn't let myself slip and act shy now!

"Gongaga. Yourself?"

"O-oh…" Here we go again, "I've never left Midgar in my life before…"

"Really?" He laughed, "Well, then, you will have to just come with us when we all pack up and go to Costa del Sol. I've never been there but I hear it's great!"

"Oh…"

* * *

When I went to board the next train to Sector 7, he stayed back.

"What's wrong?"

He pointed.

A little girl was dashing through the people getting on and off the train, her red hair flashed as she bounced along. "Zack! Hey, Zack!"

He winced, "here it comes…"

She leapt onto his shoulders. When I got a closer look, she looked to be only a few years younger than I was. She wore a suit—quite odd for a girl her age—and an old silver charm bracelet dangled from her left wrist.

He leaned down, letting her slide off his shoulders.

"Cissnei, Aerith. Aerith, Cissnei." He grunted, standing up.

The girl's bracelet accidently caught in his hair. He yelped. She yanked.

"Hello Aerith!" She smiled kindly, still yanking her hardest at the bracelet caught up in his hair. "Goodness, Zack, please just cut this mop…"

He grunted, pulling at his own hair, "I'm not and I wouldn't have to if you didn't jump on me all the time!"

She fell backward, a few black strands of hair in her hands. "You're going to have to cut it sometime! You know that's not allowed in—"

"Isn't it time you went home?" He hissed, backing away.

"Fine. Cute girl you picked up by the way. Don't kill her or run her off like you did to the last five." She gave a tiny wave to me and ran off.

He grunted as she walked away. "Stupid kid!"

"A friend?" I asked.

"A Turk," he corrected, "more so, my cousin."

Oh…but I thought he said he didn't have any family around…so…she was a Turk? At that young age? Wow…I thought Shin-ra had problems with manpower but this is just sad hiring a young girl…but she did look pretty tough.

"I thought you said you didn't have family around…" I mumbled.

"Well…I don't." He shrugged, "She's not tied in anywhere. My family likes her, so I put up with her. Also, I think there's something making me her cousin by marriage or something or other…"

I looked at him, trying to understand all that had gone on, "What was she talking about "not allowed?" A new rule at school or something?"

He stared at me blankly. For once did I catch him off guard?

"Sort of like that…hey, is this okay if I just stop here? I don't think I can pay my way to Sector 7…I promise you if you don't win tomorrow, I'll take you all the way home. Deal?"

"S-sure…" I answered quietly.

"Okay, oh, and if we're going to get to know each other, I also need your number."

"What?"

"…Your number." He gave me _that_ look, paired with _that _smile. Oh, he could have charming moments when he wanted to…

I honestly didn't want to give him my number but I found myself writing it down on his hand anyway. I have no clue what drove me to do that…How did this man learn to do this? Why did I have to fall for it constantly?

* * *

**_Chapter 2! Horray! I have it up! So...Zack proves to have some secrets...oooh...I can only guess what they are. (You have to keep reading to find out!) I wonder if Aerith will start falling for him, who knows? In the next chapter, we get to see the roomates have some fun. (At least two of them, anyway!) Call the police, Midgar is burning down! So...I don't own any of the main characters or else I'd own them._**


	3. Chapter 3

I had to wake up early for school tomorrow. Luckily, Zack only said he would walk me home in the afternoons so I didn't count on him being there the next morning. Moreover, he had no idea where I lived yet! That made me feel much more secure.

I sat in bed with the sheets pulled up around my shoulders, reading a lesson in my textbook for Mr. Dalca's class.

My phone rang next to me. I picked it up, flipped it open.

"Hello?" I sang into the receiver, as normal.

"Hey…uh…" It certainly didn't sound like my normal call from Tifa. "Uh…" He stuttered, "T-this is Cloud."

"_Cloud_?" My heart skipped a beat, "Oh, hi Cloud! Do you need something?"

"Yeah…I need to ask you a favor…" He took a deep breath, "See…what happened was I swiped this number when Zack was making a racket during my study time…"

"That wasn't nice of him," I mumbled. I completely ignored the fact that Cloud stole something when Zack wasn't looking.

"Okay, here's what I need…" He cleared his throat, "So Zack's sweet on you."

I heard a loud crash, "Cloud! Shut up already! Open this damn door!"

I blinked. Apparently, Cloud did a lot more than swipe Zack's stuff…I think it was some type of revenge he was going at.

"What's going on?" I asked, rocking on my knees. I felt like I should be there or something to stop it…

He ignored me. "Look!" He yelled, "I need you to distract him." He brought his voice down, "flirt with him a bit. That should work. Ask him out."

"W-w-what?!" I sputtered. I couldn't do that! I didn't like him. Could I lie? "Why?"

I heard another loud bang, "Cloud, I'm getting the gun and I'll be shooting this door down, if you don't open it!" There was a quiet pause as I heard Cloud sigh. Zack started yelling again, "Sephiroth, Let go! I am not going to do a thing, okay. You're not gonna make me give up a single bit of my individuality…"

"You joined Shinra, moron. You sell your individuality as of tomorrow," Sephiroth replied. His voice was just as cool and smooth…it sent a horrible chill down my spice. I hated him instantly for some reason. I nearly dropped the phone.

"Okay." I agreed. "But what's going on?"

Cloud groaned as another crash came from the other side. He must be safely talking to me on the phone in another room. Probably with a locked door.

"He'll pay for whatever…" He said, "Just do it, please? It's the only…"

All the noise became so much clearer and I believe Cloud screamed. I heard the phone being passed over; a door getting slammed shut and someone breathless trying to talk to me through the phone.

"Can't come tomorrow. Sorry."

"Z-zack? Why not, you promised!" I tried to make my voice as cute and whiney as possible. I watched Tifa try it many times. Why was I doing this?

"Oh? I thought you didn't care for me much."

He's onto me! Or...does he think I _onto him?_

" I like the race," I lied. Actually…it was pretty much the truth. He was the biggest challenge I had ever had since I was a very little girl…

"Okay, here it is…_I'll_…" he trailed off.

"Take me out on a date?" I blurted. Instantly, I felt embarrassed. I had never been on a date before and your first date is supposed to be special and…

There was this awkward pause. "W-wait. You're asking _me _out?"

I tried to get all the courage I could, "Uh-huh. So are you going to…?"

"Uh…Y-yeah. Sure!" He had been taken off-guard. "I'll take you anywhere you want to go."

"Anywhere?"

"Anywhere."

He sounded so confident...he was either a fantastic liar or he meant it. Strangely…I believed him. I believed that he _could _take me anywhere. I believed he could take me on the nearest train and we'd go anywhere I wanted…

However, why would I think that? I have never gone very far in my whole life…for as long as I remembered, the only place I had lived was Midgar. I have never left. Not even outside the walls…

"Can you take me out of Midgar?" I asked as calmly as I could.

He paused, "There's nothing out there but desert. Why?"

"I've never been outside before."

He was quiet. "Never?" He finally asked. "Okay…I'll make you a deal. You _try_ to beat me and I'll take you out. If you get five seconds behind or more, we go where I take you. Deal?"

I sighed, "Deal."

I didn't want to do this...but Cloud did ask...

I began to watch my time. I had been talking to him for almost an hour. Mom's going to be mad for using minutes like that. "Zack?" I asked.

"Mn?"

"I have to go. So I'll be seeing you, right?"

"Not tomorrow…but…I'll be there the next day. Then we'll race. Then I'll take you to the country."

"What?" I asked. What did he just say?

"Later!"

There was a silence. I looked at my phone. It went back to its light purple wallpaper.

He'd hung up on me.

I closed my book, laid down on the bed, and looked at the ceiling. A date, huh? Was Cloud playing matchmaker? No…he's too shy for that. I wonder why Zack needed to be distracted...

Oh!

_OH_!

Sephiroth said he had joined Shinra. Shinra had SOLDIERs…does that mean…

Yes, it does.

I would never be seeing this "_Zack" _ever again. I wonder what he'd be like…

He would change; no doubt about that; I bet he is with SOLDIER. They're so…strange.

He'd be…stronger. In addition, he would lose his lanky appearance…keeping his height, of course. I wonder if he wouldn't like me anymore. Yes. That's why Cloud suggested that. Distract him from that. Would this be a goodbye?

It couldn't! Sephiroth said tomorrow, though…

I put my arms behind my head and shut my eyes. I guess I'll be seeing him as someone else when the time comes, then.

I fell asleep and began to dream. It was something very strange…

* * *

_I was at the platform, getting ready to get on the train. I looked around, trying to see through the crowd. Off the train came three students—all girls. Getting on the train was three boys. They were laughing and shoving each other, having fun…The three girls waved at me and I came over to them. The train with the three boys on it left._

_Soon, the next train came…I recognized it as the last train that left. The first to come off the train was three men. They were laughing and shoving each other—just like the boys had—and it became clear. Those men __were__ the three boys that left._

_One grinned and waved at me. I blinked. It __was__ him. Why was he there? I was overcome with a crash of good emotions. Fond emotions._

_I felt happy._

_Relieved._

_Overjoyed._

_In love._

"_You're back!" _

_He nodded with a wide grin spreading across his grown-up face. It was his face, his hair, his grin... It was that grin suddenly made things clear._

_He would be fine. He wouldn't become a stranger._

* * *

I felt my body stretch out across the pillows. My hand was still on my phone. I yawned, looked at it...

I had two text messages:

_Forget whatever Cloud told ya OK?_

_-Zack_

I couldn't help but giggle. Oh…he got embarrassed too…how cute.

I opened the second one. It was a little weird.

_Never mind. Send me a mail later. I can talk to you there._

_-Zack_

What did he mean "never mind?"

He did leave his address so I sent a mail as quickly as I could, getting up to my computer, and typing it up half-asleep.

_What do you mean by, "Never mind?" I'm confused._

_-Aerith._

I pushed send, then pushed the button on the computer and shut it down. Yawning, I stumbled back to the bed, and fell asleep.

* * *

**_Ch 3 is up! Whoo! So this is going to go pretty far. Zack lives with Cloud and Sephiroth and soon we'll be seeing the "changes" in him that happen because of SOLDIER. In the next few chapters things are going to get more...confusing for Aerith. Oh, but it'll be good, I promise! So I don't own FF7 or any of the main characters...or else, I'd own them._**


	4. Chapter 4

That morning, when I got up I found myself checking my phone for messages.

_Hey! I will explain what I meant if you answer me this. How much did you hear from the other side of the door?_

_-Zack_

I decided to leave the message alone for a bit and get dressed. I slipped my nightgown off and set it on the bed. My eyes drifted over to the computer…can he see me?

_How silly! _I giggled, pulling my skirt up. _He can't see me! The computer is off! _I put my shirt and began to put my hair up…

My eyes drifted right back to the computer. I reluctantly switched it on.

When everything was loaded, I began to type back:

_You're in SOLDIER._

The reply came almost instantly:

_So you heard everything._

I gasped. How would he be able to reply to me so fast?

_Yes. So what were you going to ask me?_

I clicked 'send' and watched the screen turn back to my E-mail.

"Aerith! Breakfast! We're having pancakes! Hurry up!"

There's Elmyra…I guess I can wait to read his reply. I looked back.

Morning went by so quickly that I didn't get to read what he said back until I was safely on the train above the plate. A little boy with a runny nose looked over my shoulder. I smiled at him. "Hello!" I giggled.

He smiled back at me and wiped his nose with his sleeve. "Name's Denzel. Who're you?"

"Aerith."

"Oh."

He fell quiet, looking at my phone. "You're talking to a boy?"

"…Yes." I looked at him. He had sandy-blonde hair and blue eyes. He reminded me a lot of Cloud. He was dressed really well in an elementary school uniform. He straightened his shirt and kicked at his shoes.

"Is he with ShinRa? My dad works for ShinRa! He's an executive! Is that boy your boyfriend? Oh. Well…that means he's in the academy. Or is he older than that? A graduate? Probably so…because you're old. Well…not too old. My mom is older than you are. He's probably either a Turk or a SOLDIER. Oh, did you know they're promoting boys into 3rd class today? Is he a new 3rd class?"

Talkative, isn't he? I wonder how he guessed.

"They're promoting?" I asked.

"Yep! A bunch of boys are getting the mako today."

It startled me. "H-how do they do it?" I shut my phone and gave my full attention to the little boy.

He cleared his throat and pointed to the phone. "Who is he?"

"Zack."

"Zack who?"

"Zack Fair."

I blurted his whole name out before I thought about it. I don't remember him telling me his last name…Oh! Mr. Dalca said it! He called him "Fair!" That's probably why I called him that. I don't know if that's his name…but I _do _know that name has got _something_ to do with him.

"Oh?" He seemed amused. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"Yes, now tell me!"

I blushed. Ooooh…I am in deep trouble now. Why did I say that! We haven't even gone on a date yet!

He smiled, "I know Zack." I felt like kicking myself for saying what I said. He shrugged it off, "you two are a good match. Anyway, getting mako is a cinch. What they do is they knock you out first. Then while you're asleep, they read your vitals and all…judge how much you need. Then they inject you with all sorts of stuff and the mako too…then you wake up…" He sighed. "Then for the next day you feel all weird. You can't talk or anything—I heard this from a 2nd class—and your eyes feel all itchy and you can't move without _pain…"_

"Oh…it must be hard…" I sighed.

He nodded, seeing that I was a little too far into his little story than I should be. "It _is_ hard!" He said, throwing his hands up. "The cool thing is though," He took a breath—first time he had done it during the entire conversation, "Watching yourself become a SOLDIER! You can tell—if you're not in too much pain. Then you wake up the next morning and they train you and BAM!!" He startled a young woman beside me, "Instant fighter! You can tolerate _anything_! Even bullets!"

He was even getting me excited—and I never cared for violence like he obviously did.

"So…mako makes you stronger…" I mumbled to myself. I wondered how much of his story was true. I looked out the window. "Oh, this is my stop. Goodbye, Denzel."

"See you, Aerith."

* * *

The day dragged on until the coveted gym class. Of course the group of boys—which was smaller, but louder—was still standing at the fence whistling and howling and making a ruckus.

I could name a few…There's Reno…and Sephiroth…no Cloud, and no Zack. I looked over at Tifa, who was stretching—or showing off her chest, I can't tell these days—she gave a slight sigh. She was obviously going to _try_ to beat me today.

"Flexi-girl isn't going to stretch?" I heard someone shout.

I sighed. I probably _should_ stretch—even if it meant giving them what they wanted. I pulled my leg up beside my hip, then the other…luckily; their attention was directed elsewhere…

"You guys wanna see _flexible_? I will show you _flexible_!"

"Yo, little girl!" Reno sputtered back, poking a finger through the fence, "nobody cares about what your body looks like!"

There came a whistle from the group.

My head turned. A small girl, maybe a year behind me, had bent backwards onto her hands…then flipped into a handstand, and finally gave a little bounce with her elbows to put herself back on her feet.

"See, boys? Now _that_ is flexible."

"Shuddup Yuffie."

She stuck her tongue out and smoothed her short, jet-black hair with her hands. She dressed a lot more dangerously than Tifa ever would. Her shorts were way too short for my tastes, and her gym shirt…it was just a plain yellow mid-drift. She smiled at the boys—a far from innocent smile.

"Girl, you taken?" One shouted, whistling…the one that had been showing her attention the _entire_ time.

"Now, now boys," she giggled, "there's only room in my heart for _one_! Right, _Vinnie_?"

She turned her head to look at a boy beyond the fence with short, dark, raven-colored hair. He was dressed abnormally well—and reading! I guessed he just tagged along with the others. He looked up from his book, his red eyes following her, and grunted turning back to his reading.

"Vinnie, you're such a stick in the mud!" She said hotly.

"Look, little miss," The same boy that had been paying her attention, shouted rudely, "250 gil. Now."

"Fine, fine…" She reached into her shorts and handed him some gil from a pouch. "Happy?"

He smiled at her through the fence, "As a clam, miss."

She sighed, skipped over to Tifa, and began to giggle something in her ear as if nothing had happened. They looked at me and beckoned me over.

"Y-yeah?"

I didn't know this Yuffie girl too well and…

"Aerith," She said, pointing at me, "I am going to help you impress guys."

I lifted an eyebrow and threw a look at Tifa. She smiled. "Cloud told me everything," she said softly, "he always does. I know that you don't know anything about dating or seducing…"

"Seducing?!" I sputtered. "I'm going to date him, not eat him!"

Yuffie leapt forward, her dark-as-midnight hair fell forward into her face, "So it _is_ true. He's _actually_ settled on a girl—and she's settled on him!"

"No, none of that is true!" I yelped, my eyes looking back at Tifa, to Yuffie and back again, "It's only because…because…"

"Whatever it is…" Yuffie interrupted, "don't you want to make an impression?"

"I guess, but—"

Tifa cut me off, "Look, Cloud asked you to distract Zack so he can study. If he doesn't study, he will fail and have the rest of his career stuck. Zack is loud and has nothing else to do. Please, just distract him!"

"Oh. I get it," I said. I sighed. I was so relieved! So Cloud wasn't playing matchmaker after all! He just needed to study! Zack was not saying goodbye either…he was…

I swallowed.

If Cloud just needed quiet…and Zack _knew_ what was going on…

My heart dropped into my stomach. Zack didn't _really_ like me, then, did he? I guess a girl would just get him out of the house…and he did like girls and I could tell he could charm them pretty well.

He had charmed me, I hate to admit. I know now.

I shook my head, getting angry with myself. "I'm going to run. If either of you want to race, I'm going to run the entire track. I want one of you to time me."

I will win this and I will never have to see him again. That's what I'll do. Then he can go about and…

"Go."

I ran. The wind whipped at my hair, my eyes…I was cold. I ran the entire length of the track, only paying attention to my feet and my thoughts. The air caught in my lungs, but I didn't let it bother me…I choked. I made my way to the end.

"How fast?"

"Fast. I didn't have enough time to get the timer out…" Tifa said quietly.

I blinked hard. My eyes burned.

"Aerith? Did you get something in your eye? It's all—"

I looked down, I didn't notice while I was running that warm streaks of tears were falling down my cheeks. I scratched them away. "I think I'm sick," I lied, "bathroom."

I ran into the outside bathroom, flipping on the lights…oh, it was so dirty! I leaned against the wall, and slid down. I never liked to cry because it worried people. In here, I was free to do it. I cried.

I cannot believe I fell for him! Why was I so dumb to let myself fall for _IT_? Why did I let myself be around _THEM?_ They were nothing but trouble. That's what I got myself into.

"Aerith, did I say something wrong?" Tifa yelled through the door.

"No!" I said, forcing a cheerful tone into my voice.

"I have an idea about what you should do then, for impressing!" I heard Yuffie scream.

_Oh!_ I know what to do too. I know _exactly _what I should do to get him where it hurts. I will do everything they tell me, and finally…I will let him know I know. I will impress him until he thinks he has me and then I'll…well, I'll run.

I stood up, proud of myself for thinking it. I can do this. I'm not going to let some playboy jerk use me to just entertain himself!

* * *

_**Ch. 4 is here! Wow...I can't believe where I'm taking this myself. You'll be surprised in the next few chapters, I assure you. So...Zack's just "playing," huh? Well, Aerith can "play" too. I own none of the main characters or else I'd have some interesting characters on my hands...**_


	5. Chapter 5

_I'm not going to be able to write for a while. I'm sorry. I wanted to say something important, but I guess I'll ask you when I come back. Sorry I can't race today. I promise, tomorrow. _

_-Zack_

I sighed, shutting my phone. Things are just so confusing! I mean…why would Zack be like this? Does he care or not?

I grabbed my bag and began to walk out of Mr. Dalca's classroom.

"Ms. Gainsborough…is there something the matter?"

I sighed and turned around to face him. He towered over me and his red-orange hair hurt my eyes. "I'm…worried about my friend," I told him. It wasn't exactly a lie…but it was not the complete truth either.

"Fair?" He asked, straightening his tie.

"Yes."

"Why are you worried?"

"He told me…he told me he couldn't speak with me for a very long time."

"I see. Do you take 24 hours as a long time?"

I looked up at him and nodded. Then I asked, "How do _you_ know it will be 24 hours?"

He sighed. "I'll let him explain. You should understand. Listen to me, though. You're not to try to find him, understand me. Let him come to you."

I felt so confused. "Why?"

"It's dangerous."

* * *

Do you know when someone tells you that something is dangerous and you should not do something that you have to go do it? I tried my best to listen to him—but I found myself going into sector 0 and near the Shinra building. I hated being up above the plate. It was scary. The people here were scary. Everything was _scary_.

"Miss Aerith?" I jumped and quickly turned around to look straight on into the zipper of black jacket. I looked up.

"Sephiroth?"

That instant chill crept down my spine. I swayed my arms to get rid of it.

"I'm supposed to keep you away," he said bluntly, "Nobody expects you to make it to headquarters; but he wanted you to be safe," He concluded with a sigh.

"What?"

He held his hand out. "Come along, we will have to get you home somehow."

I backed away. "N-no!" I said, a little too loudly—I hope I didn't offend him. "I can walk home by myself. Don't worry about me."

For fear, I decided to walk very quickly in the opposite direction—even though my house was _nowhere near_ Loveless Avenue.

"Aeris, just wait."

I turned around half-giggling. "Do you have a lisp? My name's Aerith, not Aeris."

He cleared his throat, "Actually, you have that backwards. Didn't you use to refer to yourself in that manner?"

It brought back a memory. "When I was…little. Not lately, though."

"Do you remember when Tseng took you to your home?"

"No, I just remember him visiting now and then."

Tseng had been my close friend ever since I could remember. Of course, he used to be very careful with me and never let me out of his sight when he was over to our house. You see, all I remember is Tseng telling me I was adopted and I have very few memories of before then. Especially of my real mother, Iflana…and a man that used to pick me up and put me on his shoulders a lot. Nothing else.

"We used to play together…" He mumbled. "But you were really young. You probably don't remember…"

It was something else to hear this giant, frightening "hero" saying that he was my childhood friend, especially because I was so terribly afraid of him now—but I was gradually getting calmer.

"Oh." I turned around, "I'm sorry, but I must leave now!"

He made me feel so nervous. In fact, he made me feel even more nervous now that he said he _knew_ me.

I saw from the corner of my eye that he did put his arm out to stop me, but then he paused, turning it to a wave. "Give my regards to Elmyra."

I found myself walking home alone all of a sudden. He _had_ to have known Elmyra was the woman I lived with. I turned around quickly.

"Hey! Sephiroth," I shouted back, "Do you _want_ to walk with me?"

He sighed, giving a slight smile. "Not really, but if you wish…"

"Oh, no, no…" I began to walk away. I blurted quickly, "What are they doing in there?"

He burst out laughing. "Curious about your boyfriend?" He looked down at me smiling—how odd for someone like him.

I blushed. "He's not my boyfriend…"

"Then, Aerith, why are you so worried?" He asked, tilting his head so his long silver hair came over his shoulder.

I blushed again because this time I had no answer. He grinned.

"He's probably…putting it into terms that will not make you worry…sleeping quite obliviously."

"Tell me the rest," I begged. I found that my voice had become terribly whiney…

The corners of his mouth turned down before he explained. "He has to go to sleep. Then they will inject him and put his body into a pod for his proper dosage. He should be out and awake by the end of the hour." He assured. The way he put it, it didn't seem at all bad.

I looked up into those cat-like eyes of his and begged again, trying to look cute and worried all at the same time, "and tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow evening he should be his normal self." He gave a deep sigh. "This was a very nice Q and A but I must be going now. Good night, Miss Gainsborough."

"G-good night!" I answered back. I turned around to head home and found something peculiar.

I _was home._ When had I walked home? When had I taken the train here? I shook my head. I knew there was a reason I was freaked out by that man.

"I'm home!" I shouted as I came through the front door. Automatically, I reached up at ribbon in my hair and pulled it out. I shook my head left and right getting the shape out.

"Oh! I haven't seen that boy in a long time," Elmyra sighed as she gazed out the window, "Is this the boy you're acting so strange about?"

"Mother!"

She giggled, tucking a few loose hairs behind her ears that had escaped from her bun. "Well…?"

"No!" I snapped, "That is _not_ the boy. It is his friend."

I blushed at my own answer. Oh, this would be the end of my secret, I am sure.

"Aerith, I want to meet him…" She mumbled wearing her motherly smile.

I blushed, deeper and redder. I could feel it. My face felt so hot I wanted to take it off. "H-he is going to take me on a date on the next free day," I stuttered.

"So Saturday, then?" She said, her tone getting mystic. "Well, your little friend Yuffie told me to give you this for that." She handed me a big bag.

"Oh?" I peaked inside, found the contents horrifying, and shut the bag calmly.

"I haven't looked inside, but you should be glad you got a gift."

"Oh!" I smiled, "Yes, very glad. I'm going right up to look at it now."

Giving a quick goodbye, I rushed up the stairs pulling the bag open. Oh my, what did they buy for me? Dumping the contents of the bag onto my bed, I groaned. Everything had a little note attached to it for me to read.

A violet mini skirt—'_Cloud says he likes this color as his second favorite_.'

_Ew. _I threw the purple material to the side. I would never wear that anyway, it was far too short. My school skirt was the only dress that I wore that went above my knee.

I found a pair of faded blue jeans and almost tossed them aside without even reading the note. I never wore a pair of pants in my life. Only dresses.

I only read the note because it _was_ rather long.

'_I am soooo sorry, Aerith. I know you don't like jeans but he has a motorcycle and you could get hurt otherwise. We found the prettiest pair we could find. I think you'll like them! Also, I'd like to add something for now, dresses are forbidden on a date with him unless you __know__ you'll be in Midgar all day. Then you can only wear the dresses we give you. Good luck, Aer!' _

_- Tifa_

I sighed, unfolding the jeans. They had lilies embroidered up the entire left leg with a gray fringe on the pockets. They were somewhat pretty. He would like these.

Curious, I dug through the bag. What _else_ had those girls researched on?

* * *

**_Well, well, here we are at the long awaited chapter 5. I DO plan on bringing Zack back in the next chapter so look foward to our favorite guy showing up. I'm looking foward to the next chapter so that will be along VERY soon. I don't own any of the main characters or the series for if I did Angeal would be a woman._**


	6. Chapter 6

What Yuffie and Tifa left me was nice. I found some frilly things that I absolutely knew that Tifa had picked out with me in mind. I also found rather risqué clothes that I knew _Yuffie_ had grabbed with _Zack_ in mind.

I didn't touch those. I promised myself that I would _never_ touch those except for a last resort.

I found shorts, tank tops, blouses, dresses, earrings, shoes…I was amazed how they fit each item into such a small bag. Each item had a little note—I didn't read them all.

The morning passed by so quickly, I couldn't remember a detail of it other than wanting to go to gym class. Zack should be there today, right? It has been 24 hours, right?

Standing on the track in my gym shorts and T-shirt, I stretched my neck past all the other boys that normally stood there. A few of them were dressed strange—in sleeveless turtlenecks. The others were wearing that dress shirt and pants that I normally saw.

Zack wasn't with any of them. I didn't even see anyone else with black hair. I looked around trying to find it. _Nothing._ I did mistake Vincent for Zack, but that ended quickly because Zack wouldn't be quietly reading a book. Was Vincent the _normal_ one in this group?

"He's not here."

I turned around to see bright red hair. Oh, this pyro…

"Hello Reno."

"Hey there," he said with a smile. In _my _opinion, he was either equal or _worse_ than IT with poor attempts at charm. I stretched my neck again, looking over his shoulder. Huh. Cloud and Sephiroth weren't there either…

I walked away from him to run my laps without even starting a conversation.

In the locker room, I changed into my uniform. "Hey, Aerith," Tifa giggled, buttoning her shirt, "You should put your cell on silent instead of vibrate. I can hear it buzzing in your locker."

"What?" I opened up my locker door searching for my bag. I unzipped the pocket, found my phone, and flipped it open. I found a message.

_Hi Aer! I am a bit busy now but I will definitely come and race with you today. I might be a bit late. Promise you will wait?_

_-Zack_

I typed back as quickly as possible.

_Fine. I'll wait._

I turned off my phone immediately then to prevent it from ringing again.

It took a lot of my concentration to focus on class that day. Tomorrow was Saturday, after all. What was going to happen? In addition, I get to see Zack this afternoon…

What's going to happen then?

* * *

I was distracted right up until they closed the school. Everyone had left to go home, even Tifa and Yuffie—they both went home with Cloud, who I did expect to be with Zack. He was not. I had to have stayed around waiting for him for at least an hour. Two. Three.

Eventually, I got to my senses and knew that he wasn't going to come. That jerk.

I set off for home, tired of waiting. The streets at night, I knew, were terrible. Robbers, monsters, murderers—Midgar _was_ a dangerous city.

The train ride went fine, and I stuck close to the walls just as Elmyra told me to do. She must be worried. I made almost made it back home completely when something jumped out at me. Midgar never had a day or a night because of the plates that held the city up. Just as things got later, though, it just got scarier…

My heart jumped into my throat and I let out a short scream as I fell backward. There were several little spiked monsters coming at me! I have seen people running from them before…I heard they were poisonous. Their stomachs blew out when they got mad and one jutted itself out and almost hit me in the face with one of its purple spikes. I screamed again, scurrying away on my hands and knees.

They seemed to respond to me screaming with blowing themselves out faster. I squeaked, finding myself against the wall. They couldn't _kill_ me, right? I would just get hurt at the worst…

I braced myself for the spikes.

I didn't feel any pain or feel those monsters up close for a minute. I opened an eye to see if they had left but I heard a deep snarl come from one. My eyes opened wide.

A large monster was fighting against the smaller ones. I was grateful and frightened—it would come for me next, I was sure of it. They bound on top of it in great hisses and snarls as it flailed to one side.

"Don't hurt it!" I shouted, forgetting that noise set off those things. All their stomachs puffed out all at the same time. It surprisingly gave the one a window of opportunity.

"You damn things should stay out of Midgar," it grunted. A flash of something caught in the light. Then I heard the clank of metal hit the pavement. All the monsters fell away from it.

I got up, and stood there with a blank look on my face from shock.

I listened to the scratch of a sword being picked up. I saw that flash again. It wasn't a metallic flash…it was more of a _glow._ I couldn't put my finger on what _color_ it was…

"I thought I _told_ you to wait on me, Aerith!" It scolded harshly.

_It couldn't be…_

"Zack…?" I asked. I saw that flash again—blue. Where was it _coming from?_

"In the flesh. I'm sorry I'm late. I'll make it up to you later." He put his hand out for me to take. I kept trying to get a decent look at him. It was too dark.

I found myself thankfully grabbing at that hand. "How did you know where to look?"

"I didn't. Trial and error. I knew you had to take the train so you must've been somewhere around here—oh wait, hold on."

He slipped his hand out of mine for a second.

"There we go. These gloves suck."

His hand was warm. Probably from fighting.

"Why did you do that?" I asked him.

I saw his shape shrug. "I guess it was because I couldn't feel your hand. I haven't worn gloves ever."

I giggled, "Then why were you wearing them just now?"

I heard him make a sound, sort of, like a humming, "Weeeell," he dragged out the word, "I'm in my uniform now and it's kinda required to wear them."

"Your…uniform?" This perked my curiosity and he knew it. I had forgotten that he _had_ been keeping himself away for 24 hours, but I didn't know why. I saw a lamppost up ahead and started getting happier as I knew the sooner we got to it, the sooner I could see this "uniform" of his.

I thought the clothes I saw him wearing at school were a school uniform. Those _shouldn't_ require _gloves._

"So, what had I missed, Aer?" He asked, trying to obviously change the subject. As we got closer to the lamppost, I started talking to make it look less obvious when I looked up.

"Oh, I talked to Sephiroth…and Reno…" I said, "Tifa and I went shopping and took Yuffie…"

I heard him groan.

"You don't like Yuffie?" I asked.

"She's a terrible little brat," he grumbled. "She's Cissnei's friend."

"Oh, but then why does she hang around you?" We were just about under the lamppost now. I could _just_ make out his features.

"Well, I had to go on a trip to Wutai for training and—"

"Whoa!" I think I said that _a little too loud. _He actually _walked _rightout of my grasp, as I just stood there dumbstruck. Maybe I _had _started going home with another Zack…._that knew me_.

"Oh, yeah…um…"

"Zack, y-your…" I wasn't sure what to bring up first. For someone like him, it seemed so out of character…

"Yeah…about that…"

I blinked, "your _hair_."

"Yeah…" he mumbled, "they made me do it."

"Who?" I asked, and then added, "Zack, they lopped off a whole foot and a half…" I sighed. Last time I saw him, it was to his shoulder blades. Now it was near the bottom of his neck.

He just grinned. "It wasn't required, but my old-fashioned new mentor _said_ that it'd get in the way, so…when I made a run for it….Sephiroth…"

"Oh no," I giggled.

"And that was where I was this afternoon," he concluded.

That was actually _funny_—I must have not hidden it too well. He circled me just staring. That flash went off again. Again.

I stared back up at him, something was different—but I could _not_ quite put my finger on it.

"_Hello_!" He shouted, leaning down and waving a hand in front of my face. "You there?" _Oh…_

He blinked. _"What?_" He asked, "You've got this bizarre look on your face…"

"Your eyes are blue…"

That was that darn flash that I kept seeing. Those pretty violet eyes had turned into a brilliant blue that I hadn't seen before.

"Really!" He grumbled sarcastically, "I hadn't noticed, Aer."

"S-sorry…"

He laughed, rubbing a hand through his hair.

I hadn't realized how much I missed this boy. I don't think it's a _crush…_ I think he's one of my best friends. If he were a crush, I couldn't have talked to him all the way to my house.

"Wow. You're house is surprisingly very…" He clicked his tongue, "Un-city-like."

He looked around up on the hills where we put a little fence around to keep from falling. I opened the gate to go inside the house. "We try and keep it like a little place away from Midgar. Like the park."

He laughed.

Opening the front door I shouted, "Mom! I'm home!" I looked over at Zack, "Oh and we have company!"

"Okay, sweetheart, just come upstairs…I'm a bit busy now," I heard Elmyra shout from around the corner.

"She lets us go up just like that?" He asked as I dashed up the steps ahead of him.

"Yeah. She knows _none_ of my friends would try something bad." I looked back down at him wearing a blank look on his face, "_None."_ I warned.

He smiled, and followed me up the steps. Opening the door, I said, "Make yourself at home."

"Seriously?"

"Um…sure."

He walked right into my room and fell onto my bed. The light in my room gave me a better picture of what was really going on with him.

"Zack, you look terrible…" I mumbled.

"Thanks," He murmured back. He was tired. I could see the purple circles that were forming under his eyes. He was bleeding terribly from both arms.

"I-I'll go get the first-aid kit!" I told him running off.

I watched him force himself up out of the corner of my eye.

Running down the steps (and almost tripping on my way down) I asked Elmyra quickly, "Mom, where can I get some bandages? My friend's hurt."

"Hurt?" She asked quietly before leaning down into the kitchen cabinet. "Here. Take some of this too, dab it on the wound gently…" She told me, handing me a brown bottle.

"Thank you! You can meet my friend later, when they're feeling well, okay?" I smiled at her, hoping she wouldn't ask if it were a boy.

"Keep him across the hall in the spare room. Okay?" _Oh _she already knew it was a boy.

"How…?

"He's kinda loud."

I heard a low thud on the floor above me.

"No girl could thump around that loudly," she giggled. "So that's the boy…"

"Y-yeah…" I said half-blushing, "And I think he's bleeding to death so I'm gonna go up and check on him."

I ran up the stairs, not bothering to hear the rest of what Elmyra had to say. Guess who decided to explore the room. Well, pretty much he had made his way up to the mirror…_was he __truly__ that full of himself?_

I watched from the doorway as he tilted his face this way and that in the mirror. He grinned, posing as if for a picture. Then that grin faded as he pulled at a few strands of hair on his head.

He sighed, "Man, do I look _stupid."_

"I think it's nice," I cut in. He snapped up so his back was as stiff as a board.

"_Really now?"_ He said, trying to turn on the charm.

"Quit that," I said, "And yes, I think you look nice like that. You look clean."

He rolled his eyes, searching me down for the bandages. Tossing the roll at him, I said, "Well, if you don't like it, then change it. You weren't _required_ to keep your hair like it is right now in the first place, now were you?"

"Oooh. Loophole." He had managed to get a decent amount of gauze around his left arm and bit off the excess with his teeth.

Unconsciously, I started bandaging his other arm.

"So, looking forward to tomorrow?" He asked, looking up at the ceiling.

I blushed. "I guess."

"How's eight in the morning sound? Too early?"

"Not really…"

After we were done taping him up and setting the time for tomorrow, he promptly got up and went into the next room halfway knowingly. "G'night. I'll leave later."

I will tell you one thing. He snores.

* * *

**_Woohoo! Ch. 6 finally up. I was having too much fun with this chapter. I am beginning to love Zack's personality here. Next chapter we're going to have a few ups and downs but I think everything will turn out great! I don't own any of the main characters or else moogles could FLY--wait..._**


	7. Chapter 7

My cell phone woke me sometime around five-thirty in the morning. I was very aggravated at the sender of the call until two voices shouted at the other end of the line.

"_You shouldn't schedule a date this early!" _They screamed in unison before saying just as in time, "_Open your door. We need to talk."_

Groggily, I went downstairs to let my 'best friends' inside.

Yuffie waltzed in first. "Now, now, a girl needs _lots_ of time to get ready for a date," she announced before heading upstairs first.

Quickly, I caught her arm and quieted her down as Tifa tried to keep close to her.

"Yuffie," I hissed. "Sssh! Zack's here, you can't yell that kind of stuff. Plus Mom's sleeping too. You can't just come to someone's house at five in the—!"

"Actually, it's five-thirty…" Yuffie interrupted, heading up the stairs.

I caught her arm again. "What if _he_ hears you?" I whispered.

She rolled her eyes before Tifa patted my shoulder. "I knew Zack a bit longer than you, Aer." She went up the steps too, pulling me along. "And knowing him, he probably left hours ago."

When we got up the stairs, it was true. Zack was gone and he left no sign of him even being here. Not even the bed comforter had been wrinkled.

"Amazing…" I muttered.

"Yeah, he left it clean," Yuffie laughed.

Tifa rolled her eyes. "He's not the one to stay around for a long time…" She trailed off, her mouth turning down in the corners. "You be careful, okay?"

I nodded. I was never sure how to take Tifa when she was talking so seriously. "So!" She said with a cheerful voice, breaking the mood, "your date is in three and a half hours. Got your outfit picked out?"

"It's five-thirty in the morning, Tifa…"

"Actually, now it's five-thirty-_seven_!" Yuffie laughed.

* * *

And that morning dragged on painfully. With the amount of shirts I had to put on with that _one_ pair of jeans. I was _so_ far out of my comfort zone it wasn't even funny anymore.

"We should put her hair up so it doesn't get so knotted!"

"Right, right!"

Oh and it went on from there. I ended up with two Chinese buns on the top of my head that looked a lot like ears to me…Tifa clipped them both with two sparkly rose-shaped barrettes.

And then we had an argument about shoes that I totally did get to win. _Yay flats._

* * *

And then those dragging hours came to a halt as I was basically shoved onto the street exactly at eight o'clock.

I pouted, knocking on the door, shouting for them to let me back in…

"Now, that's something you don't see every day."

And the one boy I thought would _never_ show up on time, showed up _on time._ I was completely ready to have some sort of 'daily argument' with him or something…

"What—?"

It was supposed to be a long snappy comeback but it came out as this simple little word. _That_ _boy_—_IT_ had changed again.

This light was a lot better for looking at him. Way better than the one in the house. The hair wasn't as short as I thought it was—to be honest, I was sort of relieved about that. He had put something in it so it was spiked and messy in all the right places. I wasn't used to seeing him in normal clothes…and then again, he wasn't used to seeing me in normal clothes, now that I think of it. The silence in conversation was painfully awkward.

Then he threw me a wide, carefree smile. "You look…nice."

Did he actually give me a compliment? Or try to, at least?

"Um…you too?"

He laughed, but that caused another silence.

"So, where to?" He asked finally.

"You won the bet…" He shouldn't have asked me, it wouldn't have been fair. He _did_ win the bet.

"It's a date, you're supposed to pick."

"I'm fine."

"So if I took you to a stripper joint—"

"Zack, _you're_ too young to even go to those places."

"How do _you_ know how old I am?!"

"You're not that old."

"I could be thirty for all you know! I could be a very young-looking pedophile!"

"_Are_ you?"

"No."

Another silence but it was quickly broken by our laughter. He was really cool about all his replies as he walked me down the street.

"How about we take the train anywhere. Then take it back, what do you think about that? It'll be fun!"

"O-okay!" I grinned up at him and swore I saw those blue eyes blink.

"Train, right, okay." He nodded to himself.

Zack was truly a strange character…

I had to admit, he was hard to not watch him out of the corner of my eye. Not only did he almost completely drop his jerk act, he was _really_ cute all of a sudden, and well, his eyes would wander off as his mind drifted to other things. A lot of times on our walk to the train he'd stop and shake his head in such a way that—

I had to shake my _own_ head to remind myself not to fall for him—it'd hurt when I hit the ground hard.

"We're almost to the train," he mumbled.

I'd lost track of where we were going.

"Huh?"

He grinned. "Bet you haven't taken the train with a SOLDIER, huh?" The blue sparked in his eye sparked as he grabbed my hand, "C'mon!"

He bolted with me under security, picking me up from the cool ground once we were under. I felt it was really hard to keep pace with him but it wasn't that bad being beside him at all. He seemed to like doing this a lot especially after Midgar's security was chasing after us and having worse trouble keeping up than I was.

"Fair, I'm going t-to…" the man from Midgar's security department halted and leaned against the wall out of breath as Zack lifted me onto the train not even breaking a sweat. "You're getting reported…!"

Zack stepped on after I did; laughing at the man as if he told him some funny joke. "Hey, you can report me if you can beat me!" He called back.

As the doors shut the man made the deal with him—I was astonished at the fact that Zack could get away with _all_ of that.

"He's not gonna beat me," he said, flopping into the seat next to me, _finally_ out of breath.

I looked down into my lap, trying to come up with another—hopefully—good comeback.

"Are you usually this…_flashy?"_ I said at last.

"Pretty much." He threw a lopsided grin my way. I blushed.

He was getting really good at this charmer business.

"Where are we going anyway?" I asked, noticing the train leaving most of Midgar behind.

"Don't know," He sat back in his seat. "Hey, mister! Yo!" He tapped the guy sleeping next to us on the shoulder. "Where does your train go to?"

The homeless-looking man looked back from me to him and gave us a smug grin. "Zack, y'know this train goes to Kalm…" There was a strong brogue in his accent—it made me wonder where on this Planet _he _came from.

"Do not!" He pouted as if he was incredibly insulted. "How could you say such a thing?" Then he gave the man a smile, "Besides, Kalm's a nice place this time of year…"

The man laughed, sitting up from his spot on the train. "I knew it. You're on a date, aren't ya?"

Zack paused. "_Maybe_…"

At that, the man leaned over towards my direction so I could see the spark of blue-green in his eyes that was nearly identical to Zack's. "Careful, lass," he warned, "With him you'll wake up one mornin' missing all those pretty clothes you picked out special—"

Then, to say things sweetly, Zack slugged him right then.

"Was that too hard?" He said, batting his eyelashes.

The man inched back into his seat covering his bloody nose and grinned. "Look there, you're getting stronger!"

Zack nudged me farther down the row of seats. "When the train stops, can we get off then?" He smiled a carefree smile as if nothing had happened.

"I'm fine with that, Zack." I smiled back and those eyes sparked again. I'm starting to learn that mean's he's got a wild idea.

* * *

**_Wow. Chapter 7 is FINALLY out. I've been so distracted lately but I didn't want this story to just sit here because I REALLY like it. Zack's proving to be more chivalrous than usual. Next chapter is going to have an interesting twist on "dating" (Or at least I think so) HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! AND REMEMBER: Zack Fair, nor Aerith, nor the train belong to me. MIDGAR, on the other hand...(for the record, I'm kidding)_**


	8. Chapter 8

After the train ride, Zack didn't seem to be in much of the 'dating mood' anymore. I tried to make the silence more bearable by humming a small tune or asking an occasional question. And finally, because I'd gotten desperate:

"I heard you had a motorcycle…?" I asked him almost afraid of a response. I was willing to play any card to stop the silence. Well, did that sure get him fired up. The glow in his eyes sparked as a small smirk played across his face.

Instantly, I'd regretted everything I'd just said.

"Yeah, I got one!" Zack was grinning ear to ear and I could already tell this bike was his 'baby.' "I crashed it though. Not too far from here…when we get to Kalm we could take a look at it! If I get it working again we could take it back!" Then he remembered I was here, "I mean, if you like we could…"

I have created a monster. On the flip side, it is a happy monster, so it's not all that bad. It seemed as if nothing insulting had just happened to him. It seemed as if it were just the two of us on the train.

He talked, and talked, made getting off the train like some theatrical experience and so on. After all, I can just as easily step off a train without him needing to pick me up. However, that little fantasy of doing for myself went out the window as the sun shined into my face and foot caught on one of the cobblestones that I'd just stepped down on.

If it weren't for Zack grabbing the back of my jeans, I would've been nursing a bloody nose. Or worse. Quietly, I thanked Tifa and Yuffie for the pants. If I were wearing a skirt, we would've both gone down but he would've got to see a side of me I didn't want seen. Enough to make me never want to speak to him again—if you can understand what I mean by that.

_'Smoothly'_—yeah right—he let go of my pants as he slipped his hand onto my arm. I wanted to tell him I could keep balanced by myself but I thought it was really something kind of him to do so I stayed quiet. He didn't say a word and I could tell he was honestly leaving me with a few specks of dignity, but before I could get a "thank you" out—

"So about the bike," he said as he kept his eyes set on the sky as the metaphorical monster crawled out from under his rock. Zack kept a small smile on his face the entire time, suckering me into this.

"Yeah, we can go," I mumbled half-heartedly at the same time as I was trying to sound excited.

His entire face lit up like a kid in a candy shop. "For Serious?"

"Yes, Zack."

"Well, if that's the case, we'll just have to turn this into a better date!"

I lifted my eyebrow ready to protest, but somehow he was able to stop me with a tilt of the head and a small smile. I knew, silently, he _was_ reminding me that technically he _did_ have control of this _whole_ date.

* * *

It wasn't too much of a date even after he tried to make it a bit flashier. He'd ended up buying a few weird juices that neither of us had heard of and we walked a mile and a half to get to the motorcycle.

Eventually, we did come to a black tarp in the middle of barren land that apparently had a pile of junk under it. Well I thought it was junk, Zack on the other hand…

"Great, isn't she?" He said with pride as he tugged the tarp away to reveal the black-and-silver paint job. Sorry to say, the only thing great about it was _only_ the paint. The rest needed some real TLC.

"Yeah it's…grand. Really—"He held a hand up, stopping me mid-sentence.

"I know what you're thinking," he murmured as he dragged a small box of tools out from under the bike, "I didn't intend on taking you here, honest. But you didn't want to stay in Midgar. You wanted out," he said all this like he was admitting he had listened in on a secret, "Look up. Best view you'll get for one-hundred miles."

Suddenly, he fell silent as if he hadn't said anything at all. I looked around me, gazing at the scenery. It was pretty lifeless here. Sand. And occasional twisted water barren plant. All I could see was brown.

Then I looked up.

Blue. The prettiest blue I have ever seen was all I could see until the horizon. Wisps of white tangled into each other as they sailed by at a snails pace. I was always afraid of what I would see when I looked at the sky for the first time, but this was so brilliant. I felt so playful immediately. Laying into the dirt, my arms spread out as I stared up at that blue sky. I shuffled my feet back and forth as some rhyme played in my mind that I barely remembered. I kept my eyes on the sky enough to totally and completely distract myself before a few _extra _words snuck into my rhyme. Actually, it was one word entirely that snapped me back to present.

Like a little kid, I hummed, "_Zack_!"

"Mn, what?" He looked up from his work with a smile. He hadn't noticed I'd even been daydreaming.

I didn't know where it came from. I covered my mouth with both hands blushing wildly. Hopefully, I was far enough away from him he didn't notice too much. I had to cover myself up somehow so I blurted a question.

"So…um…what did your old-fashioned, new mentor have to say about your new look?"

"Huh?" He blinked before he turned his head back to his work. "Oh! Actually, he _likes_ it. Weird, huh?"

"So are you happy?"

The blush finally began to recede from my cheeks as I sat up. He turned around and sighed.

"I guess, you know. I got what I wanted, but I _really_ wanted to get to him. Oh well. At least my paycheck's back…" He laughed as he stood up, dusting himself off. "Pass me the purple thing there."

I tossed him a can of the terrible, toxic-looking purple juice that we bought. He looked at it, and set it on the ground. "Maybe later," he chuckled with a grin, plopping down next to me. "When I'm braver." He made a face I couldn't help but laugh at.

He gave a deep sigh and looked over at me as I slowly felt the warmness go back to my face. Quickly, I picked up a can of juice and started sipping at it. I was glad to find it was something like lemonade…but a bit sweeter.

"I got a lot to say," he mumbled, resting an on his knee.

I didn't like the sound of that. I looked up from my juice, finally convinced he would have seen my blush by now. Luckily for me, he was busy with himself, turning his head just before I could catch a glimpse of his own face. The redness of his ears said it all, though—he was nervous too.

Wait. _Zack_ was _nervous_?

He bounced for a bit before he regained his old demeanor. Before I knew it, he gave a loud, enthusiastic, "hey."

He turned to me with a smile on his face that made the heat rise to my cheeks again. "What exactly am I to you, y'know relationship wise? Competition, just a friend or…" he trailed off waving his hand like I should be able to mentally finish what he was saying.

I really hated to admit, the more he was with me, the less I felt I needed to call him '_It.'_ I reminded myself that he was the reason I cried in the bathroom a few days ago. If I told him what I _really_ thought he might get mad or worse, he'd think he won his game and would go away. I didn't want him to go yet…

"Silly," I answered. "You're Zack."

He frowned. I knew I didn't give him an answer he was looking for. "That was _sooo_ helpful, flexi-girl," he mumbled. "You don't know then."

I shook my head.

"Fine," he sounded a bit aggravated. "Well, what would you rather have: good news or bad news first?"

I blinked. I needed to know where he was going with this. Finally, after thinking it over and deciding he was going to tell me himself, I was able to say, "bad news. That way good news can cheer me up."

He sighed, finally opening his toxic-looking drink and taking a sip. "That's…bad." I had no idea if he was talking about the drink or wanting bad news first.

"See, I have an assignment tomorrow and—"

"That's great! They're starting you off early—"He held his hand up for me to stop talking. I did.

"I'm going to be gone for…awhile." He shifted a bit uncomfortably before he eventually collapsed on the dirt. This place didn't seem so wonderful anymore…

"How long is 'awhile'?" I asked.

He blocked the sun with his arm. It was getting in our eyes as it blended the blue into a crimson-orange. "'Bout a month. Four weeks…whatever sounds better to you."

I was preparing myself to say a '_nice_-_knowing-you'_ or something to that effect, but he surprised me yet again. He took his arm away from his face and looked straight at me.

"You wouldn't mind…waiting for me to come back, would you?"

And that, after everything he had said since we met was the question that took me off guard the most. I would have laughed at him if his face weren't so serious. '_You're kidding_,' I wanted to say. I almost knocked my juice over trying to figure out how to respond. What I didn't notice was that I was backing away from him.

"Oh…" His eyes drifted away like I slapped him. He took my reaction all wrong. "I know it's not proper to do that on a first date, but I do like to break molds…" He forced a smile as my brain tried to connect what was going on. "I kind of _like_ _you_ and all, so…" He trailed off trying to figure out how to complete his sentence.

I took a deep breath. "Sure. I won't race with other boys while you're away." I smiled. "Because of the rules of course."

He grinned at me, sitting up using his arms for support. "So, how would I rank with your emotions right now? On a scale of one to ten."

"What…? _Why_?" I thought for a moment. Maybe I shouldn't completely question everything he does. "Eight."

He made a face. "I can change that."

I have to say he used pretty much the same speed getting to me as he did on the track. Trust me; he didn't make it as quick as a race after that.

I think it's especially hard to describe a first kiss. It's even harder than trying to explain seeing the sky for the first time. The knot in your stomach that comes with being with the person you like, leaps up into your chest and snaps making you feel good starting from the toes and going up. The rest depends on the person who's kissing you, I think.

The last thing I could ever imagine was that Zack had the ability of being gentle. Only until a few seconds into it—where I thought he'd come up for air—did he get a little rough. I didn't mind, actually…which was a bit scary. Only until later did I notice that was the real point where I had begun to kiss him back. My first kiss...lasted a few minutes. Is that _normal_?

He backed away with a smug grin on his face. "Ten?"

"Eleven," I admitted. I rubbed my eyes with the palm of my hand. Yuffie and Tifa's five-in-the-morning wake-up call was beginning to get to me now.

He chuckled, "Good."

Already getting up on his feet, he pulled the tarp over the bike giving it a few small apologies. Something like: _sorry-baby-maybe-someday_.

I rested my head on my knees for only a second before I was totally out. The rest of the night came in flashes between sleeping spells.

* * *

Strong arms picked me up and I subconsciously locked my own arms around the owner's neck. This had somehow surrendered a quiet chuckle from him. Next, the sound of a train startled me into overhearing a conversation.

_"_I see you've…uh…" The homeless man's brogue echoed through my mind.

"Shut up, man…" Zack's voice came with a chuckle. _"_How's your face?"

_"_No worries, lad. You didn't break a thing."

Then I was out again. The sound of my own name between two familiar voices was the next thing that woke me.

"Aerith fell asleep, didn't she?" Yuffie giggled. "Hope you _didn't_…"

"Yes and I know it's your fault. And no, I didn't! Why does everyone think I'm this terrible…!"

Yuffie cut him off, "Obviously, just _look_ at you. You just scream _pervert_. Plus I know you think she's cute. It's all over your face."

I wanted to look at his face to find out if it was really written there…not literally but you get my point. Besides, I shouldn't let them know I'm awake. They'd stop talking about me and I would _never_ know an answer.

"Didn't you tell her?" Yuffie muttered, her voice getting quiet.

_Tell me what?_

"Yeah."

"Everything?"

His voice got quieter. "I…didn't think about _that_."

"You _do_ know what that assignment's gonna do, don't you? Why don't you tell her?"

I noticed we stopped. My fatigue was getting the best of me. I had to keep listening in, somehow.

"I prefer the element of surprise," he joked.

"Did you kiss her?" She demanded.

Zack's voice responded teasingly, "goodnight Yuffie."

"Did you take her _lip-virginity_?!" She shouted, getting louder.

He continued on with the same teasing voice. "What _the_ hell…? Goodnight, Yuffie."

"But I wanna know!"

"_Goodnight_…!"

Both voices seemed to fade away as I fell asleep. Finally, I was being laid back into my own bed as a voice almost whispered in my ear. "Night. I'll call if I can."

The next time I'd wake up, Zack would be gone.

* * *

**_Chapter 8! Well, we have certainly seen a playful side to Zack that's got a lot more to come. No worries. I'm not going to keep you guys away from him for four weeks. Watch in amazement as I work a whole month into one chapter. Maybe Zack will even return then. Who knows? At least he and Aerith appear to be on *really* good terms now. I don't own the characters. Just their actions. Beware. _**


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning was almost sad. I didn't know what to do, where to go…I was in this weird daze. I woke up to find, much to my surprise I was in my nightgown, although I remember falling asleep in my jeans. My mom told me at breakfast it was her that dressed me after Zack left.

"He carried you home last night. Did something…" a small mixture of worry and embarrassment crossed her face, "…happen?"

"No, I just fell asleep on the train," I mumbled into my cereal.

"I see…he's kind of handsome, don't you think?" She gave me a reassuring smile which made me feel a little bad.

"Yeah," I agreed finally. It _was_ true. He did have a nice face. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "He'll come back, you know. Sooner than you'll ever know." She stood, wiping her hands on her apron as if something were on them. A small grin crossed her face as she said something that startled me out of my daze, "my little girl's first _love!"_

That made my heart sink. It might have been _true_. I was a little reluctant to admit it but I had fallen for him hard.

* * *

Of course, life went on and eventually Zack slipped completely from my memory. This wasn't entirely a bad thing. When you want to crush on someone, you want to; when you_ are_ crushing on someone, you don't want to. I _hate_ irony.

Without THEIR leader, THEY didn't call me flexi-girl. Actually, those guys weren't that bad at all; through the fence I had a very nice conversation with Reno about the pros and cons of Ronson and Zippo lighters.

At first, Tifa and Yuffie were eager to hear about my lost "lip-virginity" but…well…after they heard it; they refused to believe he told me to wait.

"No, he couldn't have told her…" Tifa mumbled.

"Far too proud," added Yuffie. "Plus, there's that one girl in his class…"

"She's hot too…" Tifa said grudgingly, as if she _really _wanted to punch this girl in the face.

"But he chose me!" I tried to cut in. "He said he wanted for me to wait. He said he liked _me_!"

Yuffie gave Tifa a look before saying something that felt as sharp as a dagger. "Or maybe he just doesn't want _you _to go anywhere. Has he even called you?"

Tifa nodded in agreement but before I could answer Yuffie's question, Cloud walked over to Tifa with a small smile.

"Hey Ti—"

Tifa kept going on with her conversation as if Cloud wasn't there. You'd think he'd be insulted by this…but well, you haven't met Cloud Strife.

"He did it to me, Aer! Don't trust—"Cloud put his hand over Tifa's mouth with a stern look on his face. I had never seen him so un-passive…

As he took his hand from her face, she gave him a tiny smile. Her whole body leaned into him as if he were her own human magnet. "Right. Let me finish, Cloud." Her voice got softer, almost reassuring. "Zack's unpredictable. I forget that." With that she leaned up on her toes for a kiss and Cloud turned crimson, filling in the small space between them.

Yuffie retched, breaking the romantic moment, turning her back from the couple. "Get. A. Freaking. Room." She stomped off without much other explanation.

"Without Zack, I wouldn't have met Cloud again," she shrugged. "He did what he did with good intentions…but…"

"Watch your back, okay?" Cloud finished.

And on that happy note, they left hand in hand. That kind of stuff doesn't make me feel very fuzzy inside, but it left me wanting to talk to him more.

* * *

I had gotten used to taking baths after school because I had found my schedule empty when I had nobody to wait up for. Also, since I had all this time to myself, I was a bit lonely, and kept my phone on me 24-7.

I submerged my head for about a second in the warm water and when I game up, my phone was about in the dead middle of its ringtone.

Skidding across the floor while trying to wrap a towel around myself, I grabbed my phone just before it cut to voicemail.

"Um…Hello?" I was wondering who the heck would call me while I was taking a bath. It didn't occur to me until later that most people don't know when that happens.

"_Remember me?" _The voice sounded so odd from the other end of the phone I couldn't put my finger on the owner. It was a man, so I figured I should tell him he called the wrong number or something.

Apparently, I took too long and the voice got aggravated. _"It's Zack, okay?"_

I checked the ID on the cell, and sure enough '_THE IDIOT'_ read right above the number. It _was_ Zack. I guess everyone does sound a bit different on the phone.

The voice sounded like it was defending itself. "_Look, sorry. Couldn't call sooner. Crummy service here. Oh…and we're coming back to Midgar."_

"What? You're coming back home?" I didn't know until later that I was shouting into the receiver.

"_Um…Yeah_!" The other end began to crackle. _"Soon—"_

"How soon?"

"_Real soon. Maybe by—"The_ phone started cutting out spots of the conversation. _"Seph's gonna come ahead…Shit. Babe, I gotta go. I'll see you—"_

The connection died.

I slid my way back to the tub and nearly fell in, submerging my head all the way under the water. Coming back home, huh? My mind snapped back to what Yuffie had told Zack weeks ago but I had troubles remembering. Shouldn't I be expecting something?

* * *

The next day at gym, I did see Sephiroth, but no Zack. Cloud had told me to meet him at the fountain in Sector 7. Don't bring Tifa, don't bring Yuffie. He said it was really important. So, after school, naturally I walked down to the fountain and sat there waiting for Cloud to show. I took a novel from my bag and began to read it as I waited.

Unfortunately, there were so many distractions. A tall SOLDIER was making too much ruckus pushing Sephiroth around at the entrance. Sephiroth didn't seem at all pleased. In fact, he looked very business-like. At least, his face did. He wore a long, black trench coat with tons of belts instead of the clothes I normally saw him in. His sword, the masamune, was gripped in his left hand like he was about to slaughter the poor…enthusiastic…SOLDIER. Sephiroth looked at me and smiled. It kind of creeped me out so I turned back to my book despite the other SOLDIER's loudness.

I never did get to turn the page, but I didn't dare look up from the book. A loud clatter echoed off the ground and I guessed it was the SOLDIER's helmet. I caught a glimpse of Sephiroth's smirk as Masamune disappeared from sight. Did he…

"What you do that for?!" The other SOLDIER yelped. Turned out, Sephiroth just tripped the guy. "General—!" _General_ Sephiroth kept walking.

I figured I had better pretend I didn't see the SOLDIER fall. In fact, I should _ignore_ the SOLDIER…he seemed a bit…not all there. Of course, this SOLDIER wouldn't let me do that.

"Hey. Did you see that?"

I kept my nose in my book, pretending it was more interesting than he was.

"You. With the book. Hey!"

He gave an aggravated sigh. "Fine then, fine." I listened to the soles of his boots on the cobblestones leaving me. Finally I was able to _actually_ read. I felt sort of bad for the SOLDIER…I mean, maybe I should have _looked_ at the guy.

I heard a sigh right next to me then. He didn't leave…suddenly; I noticed I was _being stalked_…

"_AER-ITH!"_

And like _that_ these _arms_—and trust me, if you saw them you would know why I would need emphasis—wrapped around my waist, nearly hoisting me off the fountain. I did the natural thing…screamed and kicked as my novel splashed into the water.

(While I was still kicking and screaming…) He tried to explain himself. "Well, you coulda just said hi or something…honestly…" This guy wasn't even struggling with me, and I was kicking my hardest. I started screaming more girly—you know those high pitched shrieks…

"Okay, well…enough of this," he chuckled. He actually was having _fun_ doing this to me. A gloved hand clapped over my mouth, then he used his own legs to pin my feet.

"Didn't think re-meeting would be _exactly_ like this," he mumbled. I calmed down a little…I was still thrashing around, but I'd stopped shrieking because of embarassment.

…Shouldn't we be in the fountain by now?

He leaned over me just enough I could catch a glimpse of his suspenders. And the dark hair that had gotten tangled into them when he was trying to hold me still.

"You're kidding me…" I groaned. Well…it should've sounded like that; but because his hand was over my mouth, it sounded more like, "_Mrf middin' meef_!" I'd figured out who my captor was…no, he didn't make a great first impression.

"Excuse me?" He took his hand away, but left his legs where they were. It made me wonder what we looked like to the other people passing to get to the Shin-Ra building.

"Zack!" I growled.

"Heh." He leaned over to get my book out of the fountain. I shoved him and with my fantastic luck, we _both _went into the water. I didn't realize he still had my legs pinned.

"Don't scare me like that!" I shouted, my entire school uniform drenched.

"I didn't mean to…! But look—_see_? You figured it out so fast and I knew you would…at least I didn't get too far…!"

I wondered how far he intended to go.

I hit him. He deserved it.

He was yelling over the water that was spraying into the giant pool around us. "Didn't Cloud say I was coming?!"

"No!"

"I'll have to talk to him 'bout that!" He grinned. Zack was more soaked than I was—probably because he fell in head-first. He had changed a lot. His hair had grown past his shoulders again. Which most people would think of as odd for a month gone but well, this was Zack. A lot more had changed in a month other than his hair. I think he had grown taller than Sephiroth…and he looked _older_.

"H-how old are you, Zack?"

He looked at me as if that was a really stupid question. "…Seventeen as of last Monday. Why?"

Well, it's because you look twenty-five…but I didn't say that.

"Thought you were younger," I lied. "You seem different." My voice came out really quiet. I knew he couldn't have heard it, but he did somehow over the water. He waded out to the edge of the fountain, handed me my book, and offered me a hand.

"I feel _kinda_ different." He shrugged as he tugged me out of the water. "I'll walk you home?" He acted as if it was no big deal but it seemed really important to me.

"Thanks," I muttered.

Suddenly, that familiar spark glinted in his eyes. He took my hand with a grin. "Oh you _missed_ me."

"Nuh-uh," I lied again. I was actually _so_ happy about this meeting but I wasn't going to tell him that.

He rolled his eyes, his grin getting larger. "If only you could have _seen_ yourself." He acted like he was going to drop the subject, but then he added, "You're blushing like _crazy_."

Now that he mentioned it, my face did feel kinda hot. I managed to whine, "Just take me home!"

* * *

_**Chapter 9 is up. Aren't you guys happy? Personally I'm really glad to have Zack back. He's not done changing either. Keep an eye out! Looking foward to chapter 10. You're going to love it can't tell you any details, though. I own nothing. Not even Zack. (boo)**_


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